fangirl mode

I didn't know that Colin Firth played Mr. Darcy till tonight, while I was looking thru Ayn's site, and found her The Top 7 Fabulous Fictional Fellows list. He's my perfect image of Mr. Darcy ever since I first read Pride and Prejudice. I first saw him in Bridget Jones's Diary, and even though he was sort of dorky in one scene and not immediately likeable (like Darcy's character), he imbued this manliness (when he fought with Hugh Grant) which could make any girl (who loves that her man defends her honor) fall in love (hmm, there should be a better word besides manliness). You can also feel the strength behind his silent demeanor. Thus, the connection to Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.

Anyway, Colin Firth starred in a six-episode TV adaptation in 1995 and I have got to see that. There's nothing like seeing the man you've envisioned in the book acting out in real life what you've read about him doing. Hope I can find the videos in torrent...

Fitzwilliam Darcy is #1 in that list. Legolas Greenleaf takes 7^th place. I'll just quote Ayn because I can't think of a good way to rephrase what she said:

7. Legolas "Greenleaf" Thranduilion (Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings) - gorgeous, brave, immortal and a prince. What more could you ask? Of course, you have to get past the fact that he's prettier than you first.

I just love that. One of my favorite scenes was in The Two Towers when he nonchalantly disarmed the minions of what's-this-guy's-name who were threatening to stop? attack? Gandalf when he was approaching Theoden. A lot of work pulled so effortlessly. Uh-huh. I like men like that.



Oh, and he looks totally yummy when he became captain of The Flying Dutchman. This is the best one from the At Worlds' End installment that I could find. I liked him better when he had the violet bandana on near the end of the movie.

Anyhow, I originally set out to write about one of my earlier movie crushes, those of the smart, long-haired, devil-may-care variety. I'm talking about Vincent Kartheiser who played Ozzie in 1997's Masterminds. It's not very popular although Patrick Stewart plays the villain here; he bagged the title role after showing some chops in his previous outing with Thora Birch (this from imdb). Well, I've watched it a few times on cable, and he's smart, long-haired and cool, trumps the bad guy in the end while pulling through for his family and for humanity. And did I say he's very cute? The other movie I've seen of him is Heaven-sent where he was younger. I haven't seen him since his teenage years. I don't watch Angel, and I haven't watched Mad Men yet, so I'm not sure if he's a great actor. I'd just like to preserve the way he looked in Masterminds. I'm sorry, but yeah, I'm a bit partial to baby faces. I couldn't find many pictures of the guy from his teenage days. So these few are the ones I've found. And no, no Angel-era pics here, sorry.


I think the first image's from the Masterminds movie. His clothing seems to indicate it.

Well, I guess that's all for today. But you should check out http://bit.ly/IGVth for some more awesome guys. I don't know all the guys mentioned but Colin Firth, Hugh Laurie, James McAvoy and Brad Pitt are <3.

a dream of johnny

I was in REM just now, before I woke up (of course, duh!). It seems strange because last night, I slept at around 7pm. Then when I woke up, it was 2 am. Then I don’t remember sleeping, but just being in the transition state of waking and sleeping. And then when I was wide awake, it was already 5.

Anyway, today’s dream is pretty farfetched. And really weird when you think about it. I’m still pretty much in disbelief. Well, here goes… I dreamt of Johnny Depp. Besides him, there were two other people there named Brandon and Cale. All of them are people I know by name and face (of course Johnny has his filmography) but I haven’t actually talked to them. How weird was that? Even weirder would be the setting. And another thing, I believe Joe deV was also there. O diba? Oh yeah, a certain Julius was also there. He attended the same high school as I did, only he was in the batch lower than I was. So those were all the people I know in that wildly inane dream. Everybody else – and there were plenty of people there – was just an extra, just like I was in the movie that I believe Johnny was shooting. I didn’t see any cameras, the only thing I saw was Johnny, attired as Sweeney Todd. I was probably some sort of slave girl dressed in some Indian (the Asian ones) attire. I was doing something on the roof of some building when Johnny came up the stairs, but I was only seeing the lower part of his body, and before he came out into full view, I had the feeling that all I am was absorbed into contemplating his presence, waiting for him to show himself completely. I was no longer in character the moment I saw his steps. I was probably star-struck, and though my master, who was situated in some mini-control booth on the roof, was about to be slain in the movie, I think all I ever showed in my face was, would you call it delight and/or longing (a longing to be near Johnny, hehe)? Anyway, I haven’t watched Sweeney, so I guess that’s why the characters there were swinging swords and all the other members of the cast were attired ala Pirates. So he came and slain my master (though I was not able to see this scene) and he went back down. So that was my part in the movie. When I went down, it was a sort of gymnasium, the usual ones you see in municipalities or towns, well at least, in my experience. And there was some sort of face off between Johnny and Brandon with a circle of small children brandishing makeshift arrows and spears (made of paper!). The two were trying to kill each other, and I was just behind the children on one part of the circle. And when I think about it now, it’s quite funny because they were trying to kill each other by flinging their swords as if they were spears. And those were made of material so that when you are standing on the circumference of the circle opposite the other, the sword could actually reach your opponent. They went at it for quite awhile. Then somehow, one of the swords flew in my direction and Brandon (who, incidentally was in blue long sleeves) had to signal to me to move away. The kids were also attacking those opposite them. And then Johnny was beside me asking me if I knew how to use one of the paper arrows. He gave me one, and he was sort of demonstrating how it was used, with regards to the arm being stretched and where to place the quiver. And up close, his hair seemed really curly. And I’m not sure if after that, he was still interested in killing the character played by Brandon.

Next thing I knew, the shooting was done. I was sitting with many other people in the gym. Cale and Julius were there. Cale was teasing one of the female extras whom he met earlier during the day. Somehow, the fact that Cale and Julius were siblings was established. And then that was it. I think Joe deV figured in the beginning by giving a speech or some sort of mini-lecture. And we were like bored out of our minds when it went on for longer than he should have.

So what would be a fitting ending to this post? I think I’ll just end it right here.

nuno sa pu(n)so

i've mentioned before (or not) that proximity is a factor in the way i handle relationships with people. it's also why i get closer or more intimate with people i know and strain or lessen the intimacy with the people i've known before but with whom i haven't been in close contact with (due to the distance). many say it's a factor in romantic relationships, which i don't believe in, since love should be able to eclipse the distance; but then, that shows my immaturity as i've not been able to reconcile the two. anyhow, before i lose my point, i'm just saying that my new obsession is the result of proximity, though not in a physical manner. that is, i see most of this obsession nowadays, that it has, well, graduated into just that, an obsession. haha! now, i'm embarassing myself. but i meant to write this for my blog so i'm posting it anyway. so this time, it's a man. not just any man. i've seen him and his band thrice on cable TV, almost a half-hour straight showing of their videos (thank someone for this jap channel - yup, the website says: musicair.co.jp so i couldn't read the skeds listed up on their website). those three times were all the same of a series of the band's videos. i saw him another time on the guitar legends festival in seville, spain which, upon researching on the net, i found out to be held around 1992 or a year earlier. that's where i got to know him first (oh my, i'm talking like a infatuation-stricken highschool girl from teenage hollywood) and sigh, his silky long hair. he's from extreme, the band who shot to popularity thanks to their melodic single more than words, a song which doesn't speak for the music they usually play, but which, coming from a band that plays songs which they describe as funky metal, and one which has won accolades in the hard rock/hard metal category, is really a surprise and a treasure because you get to see the extent of their guitarist's talent and skill. i'm talking about the portuguese-born nuno bettencourt. yeah, guitar god. he's got real mean fingers strutting on the fretboard. he could really shred and then in the next song or in the ending of the same song, play some folk-sounding spanish/irish tune on a classical guitar. extreme disbanded in 1996 and nuno went solo before forming new projects - mourning widows, population 1 and now dramagods. a side note (and this is important, hehe) nuno isn't as goodlooking in his pictures nowadays as in the older ones (at least to me). there's been much change, and i appreciate the younger him better. he even had a brief acting stint, i've got some stills later. he really had very nice hair - my utter weakness, i'm sorry, and combined with those portuguese looks, i think that's my perfect physical man. yes, i've just recently realized that that kind of image is what attracts me. if i could just post some pictures of my two other objects of infatuation today, you could more clearly see what i mean. but as i don't have any, content yourself with nuno's pics of which i'm planning to put in quite a lot. and did i mention he's won the best instrumentalist for a number of times in the boston music awards (boston being the hometown of extreme)? that's not to say he's the only glowing star in the band; gary cherone is also a great vocalist, and without pat greary (drummer) and pat badger (bassist), would nuno be exposed to the whole wide world?

by the way, nuno was here in pinoy country last year, june 9, for a clinic courtesy of washburn guitars (he's been endorsing this brand since the early 90's). here's more about him from the news at the yupangco website, "During his years as a teenager Nuno began playing drums, bass, and keyboards, but ultimately chose guitar as his primary instrument. As a guitarist, one of Nuno's earliest influences was Eddie Van Halen, however, as he developed his craft as a guitarist and songwriter, his influences ran the spectrum of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Queen, The Pat Travers Band, and many more." yes, magazines have touted him as the next eddie van halen (besides the band's song jump, i know nothing else about eddie or his band van halen, except gary cherone is the new vocalist for the band).

so well, i'll stop here before i expose all my feelings to the world. here are some pics:

      Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (b. September 20, 1966)






nuno and his dog max






early ad for washburn



                 


some stills from his movie (wasn't specified which) from a site (still have to dig up which one this is) - photos courtesy of scott bernstein






and another one from a diff. movie, playing a pizza delivery guy






when he married suze from the australian band baby animals (from same guy)






nuno and extreme






Extreme






nuno and gary (this was taken from the site of krissa, from her living room daze album. she's got a few more pics of extreme there, dating back to '87






nuno and pat badger - also from krissa






at the guitar legends festival hosted by brian may with joe walsh (of the eagles), joe sat and steve vai






nuno and top choice clique, a rap band under his color blind records






Nuno appears wearing only a guitar in a four full-page photo layout in InterView magazine's Bruce Weber Issue. Bruce handpicked the subjects from people he found inspirational. -- nuno-bettencourt.com






poster for the once-in-a-lifetime extreme reunion concert coming this june






his new band dramagods --> click to see their myspace profile

so well, i'm obsessed with the 90's era nuno (that astig latino look), not the one we see today. although i'll forever be fan of his guitar-playing :)

simply the best

more reasons why ronaldinho is so good (besides the fact that he's an amazing player already)!
*
can you believe this? the galacticos are upstood by moreira. and fans of the galacticos can't help but applaud. :)

Madrid bewitched by Ronaldinho
By Sid Lowe in Madrid
(Filed: 21/11/2005)

An hour into the 151st Real Madrid versus Barcelona 'derbi', the Santiago Bernabeu rose to applaud a moment of genius from a footballer in gold-encrusted boots. Eighteen minutes later they were on their feet again, lauding another sumptuously executed goal from the same man.

Nothing unusual there, of course - only the man they twice treated to an ovation plays his football for Madrid's bitter rivals and had just secured a 3-0 demolition of the galacticos, a historic hammering that could bring drastic consequences.

It is a measure of Ronaldinho's brilliance that even Madridistas felt compelled to applaud, even though he had tormented and humiliated their defence, shattering their illusions. Not since Diego Maradona walked the ball into the net over 20 years ago had the Bernabeu been so wonderfully charmed into submission; sometimes football conquers all.

Ronaldinho, who will be officially named European Footballer of the Year this week, said he would "never forget" the occasion, and nor will those who witnessed a breathtaking display and two stunning goals.

Handed possession inside his own half, the Brazilian raced down the left, the ball never leaving his nimble toes, and skipped effortlessly beyond Sergio Ramos. Ivan Helguera came to meet him, but Ronaldinho simply glided across him. Inside the area now, a quick look to the far post, a dummy with his eyes, and the ball was nestling in the net at the near post, Iker Casillas statuesque.

Out came the toothy grin and at the north end mouths hung open and fans began applauding - timidly at first, then more and more until about a quarter of the 80,000 crowd were clapping; the rest sat in stunned silence.

A little over quarter of an hour later and he collected on the same wing, chose the same victim and got the same result. Surging forward and pulling past Ramos, Ronaldinho slotted a neat finish into the far corner. "Those weren't two goals," team-mate Samuel Eto'o insisted, "they were two wonders, museum pieces."

The contrast to Real Madrid could hardly have been starker. Galacticism is dying a painful death. Barcelona, all quick passing and neat exchanges, were just too good.

Madrid offered nothing - their first shot came on 75 minutes - and Eto'o, the former Real Madrid player subjected to sporadic racist chants, gave Barcelona a flying start, pouncing to poke them one-up.

Only 14 minutes had passed, but Madrid were already beaten. All that remained was Barca to add a suitably classy finish - and Ronaldinho provided it. Just ask the Bernabeu fans who, with a heavy heart, succumbed to his genius.

Match details

Real Madrid (4-4-2): Casillas; Salgado, Helguera, Ramos, Roberto Carlos; Robinho, Beckham, Garcia (Baptista 67), Zidane; Ronaldo, Raul (Guti 58).
Subs: Lopez (g), Bravo, Mejia, Pavon, Diogo.
Booked: Salgado, Robinho, Garcia.
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes; Oleguer, Puyol, Marquez, Van Bronckhorst; Edmilson, Xavi, Deco; Messi (Iniesta 70), Eto'o, Ronaldinho.
Subs: Jorquera (g), Silvinho, Gabri, Motta, Giuly, Larsson.
Goals: Eto'o (15), Ronaldinho (59, 77).
Booked: Deco, Ronaldinho.
Referee: I Gonzalez.


Win in Madrid puts Barca top
By Guy Hedgecoe
(Filed: 20/11/2005)

Real Madrid (0) 0 Barcelona (1) 3

Barcelona went top of the Spanish league last night, after humbling arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu, inspired by Ronaldinho.

Samuel Eto'o gave the visitors the lead after 14 minutes when he spun through a cluster of defenders and placed the ball past goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

In the first half, Barcelona's three-pronged attack of Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho tormented Real repeatedly.

David Beckham, sporting a cut on his nose where Ronaldo had accidently elbowed him in training, sprayed a number of long accurate passes, but Barcelona's defence, policing Ronaldo and Robinho tightly, snuffed out any danger. Real were further frustrated when Robinho received a yellow card for diving in the penalty box.

Ronaldinho repeatedly baffled Real's defenders and almost set up Eto'o up for two further goals, but Casillas denied the Cameroonian both times.

On the hour, Ronaldinho scored his first of the night, galloping half the length of the pitch, checking in the area and stroking calmly past Casillas. His second was almost a repeat of the first.

At 2-0 down, Real finally responded, Robinho immediately sending the ball across the goalmouth, only for Ronaldo to miskick. A minute later Zinedine Zidane drew a save from Victor Valdes.

Real replaced midfielder Pablo Garcia with striker Julio Baptista and it almost paid off, but a strike by Ronaldo was ruled out for offside.

The result was as astonishing as Ronaldinho's performance, but more remarkable was the Bernabeu's resigned applause for the opposition's Brazilian striker, in acknowledgement of a masterclass.

Roy Keane will not be replaced at Manchester United by Michael Ballack, according to his Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness. After Bayern won 2-1 at Aminia Bielefeld yesterday without their injured star, Hoeness said: "I know Manchester United will not buy Michael Ballack. This one match doesn't allow any conclusions about whether he is replaceable or not."

Meanwhile former Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, who took Ballack to the club, has told a German newspaper he has "had an offer" from United and that he is learning English. He has been out of management for 18 months.
*
and now, this man is set to vie for another award, that is after the Golden Ball award he already has in his hands.

Ronaldinho wins Golden Ball award
By JEAN-LUC COURTHIAL, Associated Press Writer
November 28, 2005
AP - Nov 28, 2:41 pm EST

PARIS (AP) -- Ronaldinho won the Golden Ball on Monday as European player of the year, another honor for the Brazilian following his FIFA player of the year award last year.

Ronaldinho, a midfielder who won the Spanish league title with Barcelona and the Confederations Cup with Brazil, is the third player from his country to win the Golden Ball following Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldo (1997, 2002).

Ronaldinho finished ahead of Frank Lampard of Chelsea and Steven Gerrard of Liverpool. Andriy Shevchenko of AC Milan, last year's winner, placed fifth behind Thierry Henry of Arsenal.

"This is a dream come true," Ronaldinho said. "When I see all the names on the list, when I see my idols Ronaldo and Rivaldo, I realize this is a great honor."

Ronaldinho finished with 225 points, followed by Lampard (148) and Gerrard (142). The winner is chosen by France Football magazine's annual poll of 52 journalists from around the world. This is the 50th anniversary of the award, which was first won by England's Stanley Matthews.

Ronaldinho's cunning, speed, power and strength make him one of the most dangerous attacking players. He already has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona.

"God gives gifts to everyone," Ronaldinho said. "Some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it."

The 25-year-old player joined Barcelona from Paris Saint-Germain in 2003 and has scored 33 league goals in 79 games, including nine this season. He also has scored 13 times in 19 Champions League games for Barcelona.

He has played 62 times for Brazil and scored 27 times. He helped the team win its fifth World Cup title in 2002 in Japan.

Updated on Monday, Nov 28, 2005 2:51 pm EST


Ronaldinho set for another top gong?
Wed Nov 30, 1:22 PM ET

ZURICH (AFP) - Barcelona forward Ronaldinho is in line for another top accolade after football's world ruling body nominated the Brazilian among the contenders for the world player of the year.

Voted the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) - Europe's player of the year - in midweek, the 25-year-old silky smooth Ronaldinho is already FIFA's player of the year (2004).

However whether he can again hold of the likes of Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Barcelona teammate Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon remains to be seen.

According to a FIFA statement on Wednesday, the votes have already been counted, and all three above players are in contention for FIFA's prize, the 15th edition of which will be announced on here at the Zurich Opera house on December 19th.

Unlike the Ballon d'Or winner, who is nominated by 52 journalists - one each from UEFA's association countries - the FIFA award is chosen by the coaches and captains of national teams worldwide from a list made up by FIFA.

Women's football will also be honoured. Birgit Prinz, the winner last year, is again in contention.

FIFA's player of the year award has only been held for the past 14 years while the Ballon d'Or - considered by many on the continent as the bona fide footballer's prize - has run since 1956.

Ronaldinho joined the greats of world football on Monday when he won the prize with 225 points, 77 ahead of Lampard.

last night, i wanted someone to accost me and do something brazen to me. that thought started without any particular person in mind but eventually ended up with the image of one person. the stuff daydreams are of. wishful thinking at its purest.

--

days ago, i watched the foo fighters' video of walking after you. although in mini-screen mode only, i promptly fell in love with dave grohl. yes, joseph, he is hot. thanks for opening my eyes to that fact.

--

right now, i wish i had been a diligent student like kirth. that i study everyday when i get home and retain the pieces of knowledge i hear in class.

exams are raining down on my lap. the earliest one is the fourth long exam for biochem on saturday. although what is only covered is what was tackled after i recovered, there are still incorporations of previous lessons which my brain pointedly refused to retain at the time that i should have studied them.

yes, two weeks more. two most excruciating weeks. i hope i survive and emerge at least a bit triumphant.

surprise, surprise

words have eluded me for the past 5 minutes. it's now 9:44 pm. just when i was poised to relate the latest events concerning me, my mind drifts elsewhere, unable to concentrate on the sheet of paper in front of me.


[another 3 minutes have passed]


sometimes our own actions take us by surprise.

last night, i flipped to a channel showing an ongoing socceer match. i don't know who the teams were - couldn't understand a thing the commentators were saying or a jig written on the screen. but anyhoo, ronaldinho's team was there. now, if you've been observing those players awhile, you'll find they have one of the best bods around. i saw ronaldinho before remove his jersey after a game, and well, to put it simply, he took my breath away hehe :D he's also a good player, making an impressive goal on a penalty kick on that game. i've read his name way back 1998, the first time i heard of the world cup where france took an astounding win over brazil with 3-0, brazil who had the likes of ronaldo and pele among its ranks and who was seen to conquer the world cup one more time. imagine how old he is now.

if you must know, i am attracted by long-haired guys. a weakness probably, now that i think about it. and ronaldinho was that, plus one great bod of a great athlete. so i perked up when i saw him on the screen last night. my heart went a-fluttering for a moment. (goodness, i now rely on faraway guys lording it in the screens to wake up these feelings in me. what news, i have an infatuation!) karen and rj were there with me, trying to watch and asking questions. i told them what i could, not being very familiar with the game rules, and i also proceeded to tell them about the '98 world cup and ronaldinho. and as i did talk about the latter, i became teary-eyed. it's not a gradual one but a sudden one - in a moment, my eyes were flooded with lachrymal excreta. they weren't tears of sadness nor joyousness. i said at that time that i was too excited so that tears welled up in my eyes. but it doesn't seem to make sense to me now. excited? ture, i was perked up by his image gracing the screen. but the feeling doesn't relate to the fact that tears sprang from my eyes.

later on that same night, i was relating to my sister my initial feelings when i started reading her book (the shadow of the wind) and once more i was teary-eyed. i wasn't perked up like the previous incident. i just wanted to tell her to let her know how much a jewel of a find the book is.

but well, there you go. surprise, surprise.